Bible Browser

Luke 16: 1-15

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16Then Jesus* said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.
2So he summoned him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.
3Then the manager said to himself, What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
4I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.
5So, summoning his masters debtors one by one, he asked the first, How much do you owe my master?
6He answered, A hundred jugs of olive oil. He said to him, Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.
7Then he asked another, And how much do you owe? He replied, A hundred containers of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill and make it eighty.
8And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth* so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.*

10 Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.
11If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,* who will entrust to you the true riches?
12And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?
13No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.*

The Law and the Kingdom of God

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him.
15So he said to them, You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.